WAYNE, N.J. (Dec. 7, 2019) – The William Paterson University men's basketball team placed four players in double digits offensively and went on to defeat Rutgers University-Camden, 80-58, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday afternoon.
 
Paterson improves to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the NJAC, while Rutgers-Camden falls to 3-4 and 0-3. The Raptors have lost their last five head-to-head battles against the Pioneers and trail the all-time series, 62-7.
 
Paterson led almost the entire game, except for a brief time late in the first half. The Raptors took a 28-27 lead with 5:57 remaining in the half on a layup by junior center Roy Bond. They tacked on a foul shot by junior guard Arian Azemi to make it a 29-27 lead, but Paterson bounced back to establish a 38-33 advantage by halftime. The Pioneers took the lead for good, 31-29, on a jumper by junior forward Malcolm McLeod.
 
McLeod finished with 17 points to lead the Pioneers, while junior guard Domenic Mignone netted 16, senior forward Sean Smith canned 15 and junior forward Nasir Fields added 10. Fields added a game-high 11 rebounds to complete a double-double.
 
Paterson senior guard Anthony Uribe had a game-high seven assists.
 
Azemi had a fine all-around game for the Scarlet Raptors, scoring a game-high 19 points, collecting team-high totals of six assists and six rebounds, and adding three steals to tie freshman forward Dylan Trow for game-high honors. Trow and sophomore forward Jake Petrik both added eight points for the Scarlet Raptors.
 
William Paterson shot 34-for-66 (51.5 percent) from the floor, while Rutgers-Camden went 22-for-53 (41.5). The Pioneers held a big 46-26 advantage off the boards and made two fewer turnovers (18-16) than the Scarlet Raptors.
 
The Scarlet Raptors return to action Monday when they host Baruch College in a 7 p.m. non-conference game.